Over 120,000 petition development banks to Save the Blue Heart of Europe and drop destructive hydropower in the Balkans
Press release | 21 June, 2018London, Prague, Radolfzell, Vienna – Representatives from the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign to save Europe’s last remaining wild rivers [1] handed in a petition endorsed globally by more than 120,000 people, calling on international development banks to rein in financial support for hydropower projects in the Balkans.
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Belgrade waste public-private partnership (PPP)
Publication | 19 June, 2018The Vinča waste PPP contract between the City of Belgrade and the Suez-Itochu consortium raises numerous issues including the terms of the contract, the waste management model envisaged, and the impacts on the Roma population living on the landfill, as
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MHP corporate support and biogas loans – an update from the field
Publication | 19 June, 2018With over half a billion euros from the EBRD and the IFC, the leading Ukrainian agribusiness giant has grown into a near monopolist in poultry production. The company’s poor track record of stakeholder engagement and accountability towards impacted vi
Read moreSubmission to the EBRD strategy for Uzbekistan
Publication | 19 June, 2018It is important that the EBRD clearly indicates to the Uzbekistan government the need to have progress towards meeting those benchmarks from over 15 years ago that remain relevant to this day. We suggest that the Country Strategy will envisage an early
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New Kosovo power plant – an expensive and outdated anomaly in a decarbonising world
Publication | 19 June, 2018After years of delay, the New Kosovo lignite power plant took a step forward in 2017 with the signing of commercial contracts. However, numerous old issues, including carbon emissions, resettlement, and the dubious single-bidder procurement process, ha
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How can the EBRD maximise its leverage to bring about decarbonisation?
Publication | 19 June, 2018The economic viability of coal is ever decreasing. Without public financial support many coal investments are doomed to fail. Yet several institutions are still willing to finance an energy source that wrecks our climate, damages our health and wastes
Read moreComplaints to IFC and EBRD regarding their investments in MHP
Publication | 5 June, 2018The complaint alleges that since the start of MHP operations in Vinnytsia in 2010, continuous odor and dust from a significant and growing number of facilities and the application of manure on nearby fields has made local life untenable. MHP activities
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Request to the EBRD’s PCM on the Nenskra hydropower project
Publication | 30 May, 2018The conclusions of the EBRD’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) are not guided by detailed field work and focus group research with the affected communities – indigenous Svans, nor are they based on the robust and objective analysis of
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The loan that made sense until it didn’t
Blog entry | 11 May, 2018During the annual meetings of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the bank is the subject of a complaint for policy violations via a EUR 200 million loan to Serbia’s state-owned energy utility: money earmarked to prepare the fossil fuels-based company for the realities of adhering to stricter EU legislation will instead enable it to extract and burn even more fossil fuels.
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Nenskra hydropower project – May 2018 update
Publication | 10 May, 2018The banks have a responsibility to ensure that when they make an investment, they mitigate and avoid situations that put persons at risk. The Nenskra dam in Georgia is one example where the lack of proper environmental and social assessment can potenti
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